Über Gabriele Boiselle

GABRIELE BOISELLE - PHOTOGRAPHER, PUBLISHER, HORSE-WOMAN

 It could be argued that Gabriele Boiselle has missed her true vocation... If she had been born a few thousand years earlier she would most certainly have fought alongside Penthesilea and her female warriors.

 Because just as these people were then, Gabriele Boiselle is a fighter, strong-willed and clever, courageous and unshakeable. And just as the female warriors before her, she also has a deep, natural love of horses, those noble creatures which play such an important part in her life and in her work. Unlike her ancient ancestors, however, the photographer does not nurture any belligerent ambitions – thank goodness! She has swapped the bow and arrow against a camera and fountain pen. And she uses these so powerfully that no-one can escape the fascination of her pictures and her textes. There is no question about it – Gabriele Boiselle is an absolutely top professional photojournalist. Sound training (journalism studies in Munich), first-class equipment and a comprehensive infrastructure (with her own publishing house) all go without saying. Far more important is the inner „professional“ attitude, the far-sightedness with which, after some initial experience in the print, radio and television areas, she recognised photography as the most appropriate medium for her and horses as the subject which concerned her most deeply, thus dedicating herself to these two areas from this point onwards.

 This decision was taken over twenty-five years ago. Since then Gabriele Boiselle has travelled hundreds and thousands of miles – with her camera – has made the acquaintance of countless numbers of horses – and horsey people – and built up a photo archive, the quality and quantity of which puts it in a class of its very own.

Each individual picture in the collection has its own story to tell, each story takes us – together with the photographer  - on a special journey, in scorching sunshine and the freezing cold, in the south of Africa or the fascinating Arabian world. From A for Arab to W for Welsh Cob numerous horse breeds are represented in her archive, but it is her picture of the Arabian Horse of what she is famous for. Over twenty 25 ago, she visited the Egyptian State Stud Al Zahraa for the first time and has been fascinated by the aesthetics and beauty of pure-bred Arab horses ever since. She produced her first Arab calendar in 1985 and since then she has been dedicated to the spirits and beauty of these wonderful creatures. And she has dealt with each and every horse in meticulous detail. This means that she has been to their places of origin, in the open landscape or in the homes of their breeders, she has followed their traces with her camera, regardless of the weather and often under extremely difficult conditions.

The secret of her success is indeed to be found in this rare combination  - on the one hand a highly aesthetic feeling for situations and special moments which should be captured by the camera, on the other hand an intrepid toughness not to be influenced by elementary adversities or indeed to be put off from any tasks she has set herself – and not least an infallible journalist sense to create something from this which becomes an unusual „story“ , an exiting portrait, a fascinating „photo“ report.

Gabriele Boiselle’s photo art has meant that, for a long time now, she has been one of the most renowned equestrian photographers in the world. Her photos are published regularly in all important equestrian magazines, her calendars decorate thousands of walls every year and a very impressive number of copies of her books are published. But she is by no means at the finishing post yet. How could she be? As long as there are horses somewhere in the world whose tracks she has not followed, as long as there are equestrian photo stories to tell, and as long as there are people thourought the world to infect with love for these unique creatures – Gabriele Boiselle will continue her work. How lucky for the horses - how lucky for us...

As thanks to her pictures we are always able to keep discovering new aspects of the horse world.